Trade shows how A's, Giants differ on perspective

Updated 11:21 pm, Saturday, July 5, 2014

Jeff Samardzija (center) made it to Oakland for Saturday's game, first meeting with the media and then hanging with his new teammates, including Alberto Callaspo (left) and Sonny Gray.

Jeff Samardzija (center) made it to Oakland for Saturday's game, first meeting with the media and then hanging with his new teammates, including Alberto Callaspo (left) and Sonny Gray.

Photo: Ben Margot, Associated Press

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While Jeff Samardzija, above, and Jason Hammel strengthen an already excellent pitching staff for the A's, the Giants appear to have too many question marks to make significant moves.

While Jeff Samardzija, above, and Jason Hammel strengthen an already excellent pitching staff for the A's, the Giants appear to have too many question marks to make significant moves.

Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast, Associated Press

Trade shows how A's, Giants differ on perspective

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Quite a contrast between our humble bayside battalions.

Within an hour after Bruce Bochy's "keep believing" address to the media Friday night, in which he said the Giants are neither looking for help nor needing help, the A's acted as though the world is ending on Halloween, mortgaging the future for the here and now.

That the A's are on top of the mountain and the Giants have fallen off provides further indication of these clubs' mind-sets.

Giants general manager Brian Sabeanwent on the electronic media circuit last week and said he "can't click his heels and make a trade" because he wouldn't be dealing from a position of strength. The farm system has no Addison Russellto dangle, and Sabean isn't eager to part with Kyle Crick if the Giants aren't going to show signs of recovery.

Meantime, the poor get richer. Or something like that. The A's have the majors' best record (remember when the Giants could make that brag?) and American League's lowest rotation ERA, and all they did was add two accomplished starters with sub-3.00 ERAs: Jeff Samardzija(2.83) and Jason Hammel(2.98), who each average nearly a strikeout per inning and will solidify a rotation that was led by Sonny Gray(first full season in majors) and Scott Kazmir(two years removed from independent ball) and was starting to give.

The A's gave up Russell and Billy McKinney, their top draft picks in 2012 and 2013, along with former elite prospect Dan Straily and either a player to be named or cash. A's GM Billy Beanewould have loved to have Russell as his shortstop next year, but he'd love even more to win a championship this year.

Beane is tired of one-and-done playoff visits. In his time as GM, the A's have made the postseason seven times and gotten past the first round once. In all six of the Division Series knockouts, the misery lasted five games. With Samardzija and Hammel, the goal isn't to win a fifth game, it's to avoid it.

Beane's history is to build teams good enough to make noise in the AL West but always with an eye toward ensuing years - Andre Ethier for Milton Bradley and Carlos Gonzalezfor Matt Hollidaynotwithstanding. This year is different. This is a special team on several fronts, in line with the early 2000s clubs of Giambi-Tejada-Chavez and Hudson-Mulder-Zito, which got bounced in the first round four straight seasons.

After the trade was announced Saturday, Beane was careful on a conference call to suggest it wasn't about getting deeper into the postseason - that would be "arrogant" - but simply getting to the postseason. "I don't feel comfortable talking about October when you're in July and you've got Mike Trouthitting game-winning home runs every night."

Like the A's, who have the Angels on their tail, the Giants' main competition comes from Southern California. Though in the Giants' case, it's more about their own collapse than the Dodgers' rise. Sabean called it "an impossibly frustrating place to be in," suggesting on Comcast SportsNet that if the Giants don't start winning, "I guess turning into a pumpkin was bound to happen."

Sabean looks to next season and sees no third baseman, second baseman, left fielder or closer, considering the contracts of the men with those titles are expiring. With his team losing regularly, trading prospects to upgrade the roster could be pointless.

Such a different mood across the bay. While Sabean must look ahead to 2015 when contemplating the final months of 2014, Beane virtually is saying, "The hell with anything beyond 2014," not that the A's won't remain a power next year. But the emphasis is clear. In fact, Beane isn't ruling out more transactions this month.

"We're not just going to stop and shut everything down," he said. "We've got three-plus weeks until the trade deadline."

It wasn't long ago fans were talking about another Bay Bridge World Series. Suddenly, the Giants have a lot of catching up to do.

-- The Independence Day trade was a reminder of the Giants' difference-making Fourth of July deal in 1987, when they acquired San Diego's Kevin Mitchell, Dave Draveckyand Craig Lefferts, who helped them to two division titles in three years and the '89 Series.

-- In another era, a trade with the Cubs worked out quite nicely for the A's: Brian Guinn, Mark Leonetteand Dave Wilder for Dennis Eckersley.

-- The Beane evolution: It's a whole new world when the A's are the only team in the majors not to use a rookie. It's their longest rookie-less streak since 1968, their first year in Oakland.

-- A sidebar to the Russell trade is the Cubs' shortstop glut, from Starlin Castro, who's having a fabulous year, to star prospect Javier Baez. Castro has volunteered to change positions, but first instinct is he'll be dealt for pitching.

-- In the seventh inning on the night before Tim Lincecumthrew his no-hitter, bullpen catcher Billy Hayesapproached him in the dugout and asked why he hadn't left. Lincecum thought he was pitching a night game. Hayes reminded him first pitch the next day was 12:45 p.m. Starters usually duck out long before that. No worries. Lincecum went home, altered his routine and returned to no-hit the Padres for the second time in two years.

-- Tom Stevens, Babe Ruth's grandson who was quoted in these pages during Barry Bonds' run to the Babe's 714, was invited as a guest to Nettuno, Italy, for an Italian all-star game Friday. American military bases in the area after World War II turned it into a baseball-loving community, and Friday marks the 100-year anniversary of Ruth's major-league debut.

-- Lots of unease about Bud Selig's permission to let the A's move from the Coliseum if the lease extension wasn't finalized, but it was. The threat was made to get the deal done. Game over, for now. Fact is, the A's always had the power to go elsewhere in the Bay Area (in their territory) or even leave the Bay Area so long as they got three-quarters of the owners' votes, but there's nowhere feasible to relocate, at least in this country. The Montreal A's? Hmmmm.

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